Iranian parliament to probe death of blogger

Iranian parliament has announced that it will probe into the death of jailed blogger Sattar Beheshti after his death created a wave of domestic and international outrage.

Mehr News Agency reports that deputy head of parliament announced that the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament have been charged with the responsibility of the probe into Sattar Beheshti's death.

Reports indicate that the news of the probe was announced in response to Iranian MP Ahmad Tavakoli's criticism of the judiciary's silence regarding the death of the jailed blogger. Tavakoli reporteldy said: "Instead of dealing harshly with bloggers, you'd better go after corrupt officials."

Tavakoli emphasized that the judiciary must address this issue: "A death has occurred and explanations are due."

Sattar Beheshti was arrested at his home in Tehran on October 30 and Kaleme website reported last week that the 35-year-old Beheshti who ran an anti-government blog had died while in custody and his family was called in to receive his remains.

Yesterday Kaleme published a letter signed by 41 political prisoners in Evin Prison saying they had seen the signs of torture on Beheshti's body and knew that he was concerned for his life when he was recalled for interrogations.

A member of the parliamentary commission Ahmad Bakhshayeshi announced plans to probe into the case and criticized the judiciary for not taking the necessary steps to investigate the matter earlier to announce the reuslts and prevent the public from resorting to foreign media outlets for information.

Sattar Beheshti was laid to rest last Thursday near his home. He was arrested on the charge of "acting against national security through activities in online social networks and Facebook."